SUBY BOWDEN + ASSOCIATES

 The Pojoaque Pueblo Child Care Center provides a sequence of care and learning spaces for young children to physically and imaginatively inhabit nature.

 

The north entry vestibule acts as a transparent threshold. Arriving families gaze through the lobby directly into the open-air court for Pueblo ceremonies. 

The court forms the ‘heart’ of the Child Care Center.

 

Four classrooms arranged radially around the east side of the court are accessed from the generous corridor. Two additional classrooms to the west are planned in the future. 

 

The play and storage corridor is glazed to capture solar heat in winter. Overhangs provide summer shade. Operable windows capture breezes.  Doors open onto the inner court where playing children can be monitored from the corridor, lobby and administration offices. 

 

Glazed exterior classroom walls frame the Pojoaque landscape. Walled playground gardens of each classroom are framed against the expansive sky and

mountain views beyond.

 

Designed by Julia Wirick, Suby Bowden

and Bob Gaylor with the Pojoaque Pueblo Childcare Staff

and Governor George Rivera

.